Kitchens and bathrooms are known for selling houses, but in all honesty, the kitchen truly is the heart of the home. There is no doubt that this is the room where most of the memories made. It’s where families gather several times a day. 

Whether you are bonding with a friend over a cup of coffee or enjoying a cocktail that you just mixed up, you will find yourself lost in the conversation around the kitchen island or table quite often. Aside from those beverage-induced bonding moments, there are also meals that bring families together.

Teaching your children to cook is a skill that is passed down from generation to generation. Children will forever tell the stories of when their mom or grandmother taught them how to create a new dish from scratch. Your kitchen will be engrained in those memories for the rest of their life. So make sure your kitchen is memorable.

How to Create a Memorable Kitchen

When it comes to a kitchen that will forever be remembered in stories and memories, you must remember simplicity is at the base of these memories. A showcase kitchen is nice but it is not that realistic when it comes to gatherings. Most kitchens have warm and inviting colors and dark kitchen cabinets that will hold up against the wear that comes along with hosting gatherings and cooking a lot of meals. 

The countertops will be a nice tone of stone that will be easy to clean and the surfaces will be clear of clutter. The more clutter on the countertops, the more chaotic the kitchen can feel. You’ll also want clean countertops so that you can easy place serving dishes out for guests and family to load up their plates from.

Besides having rich dark cabinets and clean countertops, you’ll also want to have bright lighting so the kitchen is easy to see in. This helps those who are guests and those who are learning how to cook. A bright and clean workspace is great for those learning how to cook new recipes.

There Is More to a Kitchen Than Just Appearances

The kitchen may look great, but you also have to consider comfort for your family and guests. Kitchens should have comfortable seating that doesn’t feel too close together. Most kitchens have dining spaces such as kitchenettes or they open directly to a dining room. A nice island or peninsula with comfortable stools will also add more seating for guests. When hosting small parties, there should always be places for friends and family to comfortably sit while they enjoy appetizers, drinks, meals, or even just desserts.

Keep the Memories

People don’t always want to have their pictures taken, but whenever you host a gathering, you should try to get some photo documentation for it. You can make a memory book of all your times together. Make sure you capture the food and the set up that you created as well as the guests. 

Feel free to pass the camera off to a friend or relative so that you also appear in the pictures. While memories of hanging out and enjoying good food may always be passed down, now they can be truly reflected upon when flipping through old photo albums.

So Many Celebrations

When you consider how much time you spend celebrating in your kitchen, you may truly be surprised. Birthdays are often spent around a birthday cake. Thanksgiving, Mothers Day, and Fathers Day BBQs may end up around the kitchen table. Christmas and other religious holidays that involve gatherings and time spent together around large meals are always family favorites. 

All of these celebrations generally occur between a family room, dining room, and kitchen. Make the most out of your space and keep it updated and refreshed every few years. Make sure your appliances are in proper working order and that all of your décor changes with the times. This will keep the space feeling new and full of life for all of the celebrations that are coming your way.

A properly installed roof window tends to bring light and air into the darkest and most dismal of loft conversions, kitchen and anywhere else you decide to install a roof window. The key feature of a roof window is that it is on the roof, so the room it is going in, needs to have the roof above the ceiling or next to a wall. 

With over 70 years of glazing experience, Velux Roof Windows are a brand to trust. Velux Roof Windows come with a ten-year manufacturer’s guarantee. For general maintenance and wear and tear, there’s 25 years of availability on spare parts. Most of the parts are so simple to replace, you won’t need to hire someone to come out. 

Sunlight

Natural light is needed in the home. Sunlight is needed to maintain health, both in the body and the home. 

A dark and dismal room with poor ventilation isn’t just oppressive, it is damp and can lead to mold. Extractor fans are noisy and don’t brighten the space, like a roof window. 

The human body requires sunlight. The amount of sunlight impacts mood and increases the production of the happy hormone, serotonin. Even before hormone production kicks in, walking from a room that is dark and dismal into a space that is lit by sunlight has an immediate impact that isn’t experienced with artificial light. 

Roof windows may be the only way to get natural sunlight in a room. They work in oddly shaped rooms without much wall space. 

Window Combinations

Velux pitched windows can be combined with vertical windows to create glass walls straight out of a magazine. A glass wall creates the illusion of space, making a room appear much bigger than it actually is. 

A glass wall in a loft conversion is possible with pitched windows or the combination of pitched and vertical windows. If the loft is mainly being used as a bedroom, you can watch the stars lying in bed. Don’t forget the tinting for privacy. 

Glass walls aren’t just for bedrooms. They work in dining rooms and even kitchens. Glass walls offer excellent views and can aide in relaxation, turning a space from somewhere oppressive to somewhere pleasant to spend time. 

Sound Insulation

Velux offer soundproofing as a glazing option. With all their years of experience, they can reduce noise by up to 50 per cent. It even works for those directly under a flight path. Being woken by planes or other outside noise on a Saturday morning isn’t pleasant, so be sure to have this option if you live anywhere noisy. 

Safety

Roof windows can look like a giant cat flap to burglars. Velux uses toughened glass, reinforcements and extra locks. The burglar will be in for a nasty surprise if they try messing with a Velux window. 

Built-in Smoke Ventilation

With smoke ventilation accessible either by the press of a button or automatic sensor, no one will know you burnt the bake sale cookies and replaced them with store-bought.

Getting an extension is no easy challenge, and it’s something that should take a lot of thought and consideration. There are certain criteria you’ll want to meet before moving forward with such a project. Here are some things to consider before getting an extension.

Do You Have The Space?

Is there enough space in your home to think about a terrace house extension on your land? For some, there might be an excess of land that you can build on or it might be a case of building up, or down, depending on what you are able to work with. Some properties will allow for an extension, and some might not be possible. Before you go applying for any relevant permissions or spending the money on laborers or architectural designers, make sure that you have checked that you have enough space for what you have planned. Whether it’s an extra bathroom or bedroom, each one is going to be different from the next, and it’s important you figure out what’s doable and what might not be doable.

Can You Afford It?

The cost of a renovation isn’t cheap, and therefore you want to think about the costs involved and whether you can afford it at this moment in time. It’s not to say that you might not be able to in the future, but renovations can often demand a lot of money from you. Once you’ve figured out the finer details of the costs involved, you’ve also got to make room for potential snags and delays in the project, which could mean you’ll end up spending more than you’d hoped for.

Will It Add Value To Your Home?

When it comes to adding value to your home, there are certain things that can bring it down and bring it up. Ideally, you always want to look at improving your property value, and renovations can provide that most of the time. As long as you are extending your property, creating a new bedroom, reception room or bathroom can really add on the money when it comes to getting your home valued further down the line. You might not be looking to sell your home, but it’s good to have the option of increasing its value where you can.

The Legal Side

And finally, renovations are simple in just getting on with the work from your side. There are also legal factors that might prevent you from doing certain work and even the renovations themselves. It’s worth considering looking at what the legal implications would be for the particular work you’re doing to your home and how you might get around it. It’s worth getting in touch with the experts to check it’s something you can do before committing all the money to it!

Getting an extension can definitely be challenging, but it can have its benefits. Extensions can add value to your home as well as provide more space in scenarios where you’re adding on extra floor space. Use these tips to ensure you’re making the right choice.

If you have a cabin where you only go for a portion of the year, you likely won’t want to break the bank on decorating. What you can’t let that reluctance do is stop you from decorating completely. Simple, inexpensive choices can go a long way when it comes to decorating your cabin. Here are the top 5 inexpensive strategies and tips to decorate your cabin.

1: Secondhand Furniture 

The first element that you will be wanting to buy for your cabin will likely be furniture. While some elements, such as mattresses, would be better for you to buy new, secondhand furniture, when wisely sourced, can be a huge savings and a source of eclectic cosiness in your cabin. Sourcing your secondhand furniture from reliable and reputable thrift stores will ensure that your new to you furniture will not have any huge defects or flaws, and you can easily find ways to take the variety of patterns and colors and turn them into an aesthetic all of their own.

2: Practical Touches

The second element that you should be looking for consists of the most practical considerations after furniture. Small appliances such as a coffee maker and a microwave, curtains or blinds for the windows, and air conditioning if the cabin isn’t well-ventilated are only some of the somewhat boring details that you will have to consider for your cabin. Like with furniture, some of these things can be bought secondhand, such as small appliances, while larger items such as air conditioning will have to have a larger slot in your renovation budget. Getting these considerations out of the way early in the process will make it easier to know what exactly your budget is for the more interesting portion of the decorating process.

3: Outdoor Items

A cabin is unique in that the outside is almost more important than the inside. After finishing the bare minimum on the inside of the cabin, you should turn your attention to the outside. Consider what you will be using most often. Do you want a grill, a firepit, or both? Would you prefer a charcoal or gas grill? If you want larger items outside, such as porch swings, picnic tables, or shade canopies, you will have to budget for those as well and consider what sacrifices you are willing to make on your budget for decorating the inside of your cabin.

4: Paint

One of the least expensive ways to instantly change the character of a room is to paint it with a new color. While you may want to keep any natural wood that might make up the walls of your cabin, you should also consider whether you want to paint any of the rooms. Bright colors such as orange and yellow or earthy colors such as green and light brown are perfect colors for a cabin getaway, and the fact that you will be able to repaint a cabin for a relatively low price tag only makes this decoration option more attractive.

5: Secondhand Decorations

For any other touches, such as rugs, pictures, or knick knacks, you should once again go thrift or secondhand shopping. Not only will it be less expensive overall, you will be able to get things that have a sense of nostalgia and hominess about them due to their age. Brand new decorations and items almost always look unnatural until you get used to them, and a place that is less often used will benefit from the already broken-in nature of secondhand decorations.